


Dii2tre22 2iignal

by TeamTired



Series: The 120 Pairing Challenge [3]
Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: M/M, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-10
Updated: 2012-07-10
Packaged: 2017-11-09 13:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/455894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeamTired/pseuds/TeamTired
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sollux is broken and near death after being used by Vriska to kill Aradia. An emergency message reaches Karkat, who begrudgingly comes to his aid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dii2tre22 2iignal

He wakes up to the smell of burning and the sound of fire. For a moment, everything is okay. For a moment, it doesn’t all set in. 

Then the memories come flooding in, as if released in one great deluge. He remembers the psychic pain of being overloaded on mind honey. He remembers the iron grip he felt on his body and his mind, forcing him towards Aradia’s hive. He remembers the explosive sight of red and blue as they overwhelmed everything. 

For a moment, all he can feel is terror. He is frozen by the sheer magnitude of what he has done. 

Then comes the pain. The migraines wracking his brain, punishing his very existence. Then the voices of the doomed, screaming into his ears even louder than before. As he recovers each mental faculty, he comes into possession of a corresponding pain, each one more intense and debilitating than the last. 

But nothing could have prepared him for the worst pain of all. 

Though he knows nothing can be done, he knows that she couldn’t have survived the blast, it doesn’t stop him from trying to look for her. He tears at the ground with his hands and throws debris out of the way with his mind. It seems like hours before he finds anything even recognizable, and even then it’s only her hat, stained with her blood.

Her beautiful red blood. 

He is Sollux Captor, and he has just lost the most important troll in his life. 

He turns the hat over in his hands, as if it holds the secrets to getting her back, as it it contains some secret message from her, one last communication. He’s not surprised when he finds a slip of paper tucked inside, though he’s not sure why not. A quick tug dislodges the paper. He reads it a few times before discarding it, much more confused he had been a second before.

“SON IF YOU ARE READING THIS YOU HAVE FINALLY BECOME A HAT WEARING GENTLEMAN. I AM SO VERY VERY PROUD OF YOU.”

Though it was comfortably dark outside when Sollux arrived at Aradia’s hive, he can see the bright lights of the harsh Alternian sun began to poke through the thick cloud cover. He knows that without getting to cover soon, he could fry, even in the dark season’s relatively light solar coverage. 

He retreats to a pile of rubble that he forms into a makeshift shelter and ejects one of his mobile computer platforms from his Sylladex. He knows only one troll that lives even remotely nearby, and he knows that asking that particular troll for help is a long shot. But Sollux supposes it’s worth a try.  
He opens his laptop’s list of ~ATH programs and executes one labeled emergency_me22age.~ATH. He types his short message and collapses in a pile of rubble, hoping for some respite from the migraines. His computer surges for a minute, processing the request, before it goes quiet. 

Eleven minutes later, corresponding with the untimely death of a whale lusus three continents over, Karkat Vantas’s computer makes an unsettling noise. 

Though it’s nearly daybreak, Karkat had postponed going to sleep until he had finished watching a marathon of troll Matthew McConaughey movies, culminating his favorite of the week: Wherein a female lead attempts to fool a fellow blue blood into a flushed relationship with only the intention of terminating the relationship for the purposes of her writing career, but the male lead attempts a similar ruse for the purposes of winning a bet with his fellow legislacerator, resulting in a series of difficulties for both parties, but ultimating resulting in legitimate flushed interest from both parties, which fails due to the deceptive nature of both parties until the final moments of the film. 

The part at the end where troll Kate Hudson admits her true flushed interest always makes Karkat cry. 

But now his movie watching experience has been interrupted by yellow text that has seemingly frozen his computer.

“attentiion a22hole

thii2 ii2 an emergency me22age from 2ollux captor who really need2 2ome help riight now

your hu2ktop wiill reciieve coordiinate2 of my locatiion, plea2e come help

okay ii’m 2orry for calliing you an a22hole iif ii’m 2endiing thii2 then ii am iin 2eriiou2 danger

plea2e come.”

Karkat glances at the message in disgust. Some stupid fucking wriggler got himself stuck outside just before daybreak, and they’ll fry for their trouble. It’s not Karkat fucking Vantas’ problem, wrigglers die all the time from stupid shit like that. 

But something romantic in Karkat won’t let him let it go. Something in him screams that of all the trolls on Alternia, it was him that was chosen, him that has a chance to make a difference. Almost unthinkingly, he stands up from his desk, retrieves provisions and a plastic sheet covering to protect himself from the sun, and walks out into the cool Alternian almost-dawn. 

He walks east, stopping occasionally to check his coordinates on his handheld communication device.   
Two hours later, he begins to feel the heat of the Alternian sun. He knows that unless he gets there soon, both him and the stupid troll that contacted him will be dead. 

As he walks over yet another hill, the residential lawn rings that make up his neighborhood fade from view, and in the distance, he sees a troll hive, mostly destroyed. 

Karkat breaks into a dead sprint, racing towards the damaged hive. When he arrives, a particular pile of rubble sticks out, it looks too neat, too constructed, as if a troll had gathered it there after the fact. 

He cautiously approaches the make-shift nest and peers inside, seeing an unconscious yellowblood sprawled out in a smaller pile of rubble. Karkat panics for a moment, but a quick check reveals that at least the troll before him is still alive, at least for now. A quick trip to the exterior of the makeshift nest results in the reinforcement of the outside walls with a few smaller pieces of rubble and the covering of the shelter as a whole to ward away the harsh sun and any predators in the area. 

He’s not sure how long the unconscious troll has been like this, but Karkat begins to worry. He figures that he might as well get introductions over with, since he’d rather deal with an insane psychopath with some hope of escaping than a few hours later when exiting the shelter is out of the question. 

He shakes the yellowblood awake.

“HEY ASSHOLE, AT LEAST HAVE THE COMMON COURTESY TO GREET ME WHEN I SHOW UP TO SAVE YOUR SORRY WORTHLESS BEHIND.”

Sollux Captor wakes up with a start, and after the minute it takes to remember all the awful details of his situation a second time, he responds to the figure in front of him. 

“hey fuck you a22hole ii asked for help not a fuckiing lecture lea2t of all not by the mo2t annoyiing troll ii’ve ever fuckiing met.”

Karkat is taken aback, and takes a step back. He’s nearly leaves the nest before he’s stopped by Sollux. 

“no waiit ii diidn’t mean that. ii’m ju2t not my2elf riight now thiing2 are out of control and ii really need help.”

Karkat turns around to face Sollux, and he feels a twang of pity for the poor creature. 

“WELL CARE TO EXPLAIN TO ME WHAT THE FUCK YOU ARE DOING AT A RUINED HIVE THIS CLOSE TO DAYBREAK, AND WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU? AND FOR THAT MATTER, WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU, AND WHY THE FUCK DO YOU KNOW ME?”

Sollux takes a minute to calm down the voices that are screaming into his ears before he responds. 

“ii got your iip addre22 from 2ome communiicatiion2 we had earlier thii2 2weep. ii’m a hacker and the be2t damn ~ATH coder on alterniia. you had dumba22 que2tiion2 about ~ATH and ii an2wered them. you were the clo2e2t troll ii could fiind that ii thought miight help.”

“HEY SHUT YOUR PROTEIN CHUTE, IT’S NOT MY FAULT THE STUPID COMPUTER KEEPS DOING SHIT WRONG.”

“ii am iin no condiitiion two argue wiith you riight now my head iis kiilliing me.”

A particularly harsh wave of migraine washes of Sollux, bringing him to the floor. 

An uncharacteristic flash of concern makes its way across Karkat’s face. Then he catches himself. Why does he care about this stupid troll again? What is making him feel this pity for such a prime example of an idiot? 

“OKAY, I GUESS I SHOULD APOLOGIZE OR SOMETHING. BUT WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE? I NEED TO KNOW WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU.”

Sollux laughs for a moment, a harsh laugh that scares Karkat, just a little. 

“what the fuck iisn’t wrong wiith me. every part of me hurt2 a thou2and tiime2 over ii can’t 2top the voiice2 and ii ju2t kiilled my one chance at happiine22.”

“ii’m totally worthle22.”

Karkat kneels down to the floor and puts his arms around Sollux. He rocks him gently as he hugs him. A few minutes later he whispers into Sollux’s ear.

“NO, YOU’RE NOT WORTHLESS. IF YOU WERE WORTHLESS THERE WOULD BE NO POINT IN SAVING YOU. BUT I’M HERE FOR YOU. MY NAME IS KARKAT VANTAS, AND I AM HERE TO SAVE YOUR FUCKING LIFE AND FIX YOUR FUCKING PROBLEMS.”

He’s not sure where that last part came from. He’s never given a damn about another troll before, let alone actually done something about those feelings. 

But he must have said something right, because he sees a small smile make its way across Sollux’s face. 

Karkat lies down on the ground next to Sollux and looks him in his blue and red eyes. 

“SO TELL ME YOUR STORY”

And Sollux does tell him his story. He tells him about growing up in a communal hive, about learning to program. He tell him about the mind honey. He breaks down when he gets to the part about Aradia, about how much she meant to him, and the danger she placed herself in. He talks about how brave she was to confront a blueblood like that, especially in the face of such dangerous powers. 

But he stops there. He can’t bring himself to talk about the events of just a few hours ago. He can’t even think of the words that would explain the pain he feels at causing the death of someone so beautiful, so pitiable. The guilt is too much and Sollux dissolves entirely, wrapping himself into a ball, rocking back and forth as he cries to himself. 

Karkat is overwhelmed, and reaches his arm around Sollux, pulling him in tight. He kisses Sollux lightly on the neck and whispers in his ear a soothing shoosh, barely audible. 

Sollux’s sobs begin to fade, until Sollux collapses into another restless sleep. Karkat cannot sleep, he knows that he must stay awake, he must be there for Sollux no matter when he awakens. While he sleeps, Sollux kicks and squirms, tormented by nightmares Karkat can only imagine. The only thing that keeps Karkat going is the hope that he is somehow helping, he is somehow defending his new friend from the worst of the torment. 

It’s the hope that lasts him until the harsh sun sets again. 

Hours later, Karkat is tired beyond belief, but he has made it until the setting of the sun. Him and Sollux are safe to return to their hives now. He feels Sollux stir against him, and untangles himself from Sollux’s legs as Sollux awakens. 

Sollux looks Karkat in the eyes, and for a moment, they just stare at one another, as if acknowledging their shared expeience. 

“thank2 kk

ii don’t know what to 2ay but thank2

ii would not have 2urviived wiithout you

ii can’t tell you how much you and what you did mean to me.”

Karkat is paralyzed by his pity. He knows no proper response but another embrace, this time even warmer and more personable than the last. He whispers into Sollux’s ear:  
“DON’T EVER CALL ME KK AGAIN YOU NOOKSUCKING DOUCHE.”

But the damage is already done. As much as Karkat wants to refuse it, the trolls are already bound in the inexplicable troll disease called friendship.


End file.
